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Now, don’t share this with any tailor or home-ec teacher, but I’m going to give you a quick and easy way to whip up a casual skirt that I got from a book many years ago. It was written by a designer who pared down steps involved with sewing to make the whole process more user-friendly than the experts would have us believe. She felt that the pro’s were pro’s because they had the time (and were paid) to do detailed work, but the details overwhelmed the average person. (Even so-called easy patterns still demand many steps that can be eliminated.) This is not to say that your garment will have the same quality as one done by a seamstress or one that is store bought, but it will suffice. Actually, it's perfect if you’re going someplace fun and casual and want something unique not found in stores…like something already in your closet, but in a different color, pattern, or material. It is really much easier than anyone would think to make a skirt by using an existing one as a pattern. Plus, it shouldn’t take more than one evening, easily done while listening to television.

First, visit a fabric store to see what grabs your attention; you probably will need only about ¾ yard of material that’s 45” wide for a shorter skirt-hold it to see if it will be long enough, using the 45” wide as the part that will go around your waist. (For the most part, cottons, denims, linens and blends work better than silky fabrics like knits or polyesters.)

Double the fabric length wise and width-wise, then lay on a firm surface. Turn a favorite skirt inside out and fold in half, width- wise, laying its length-wise fold along the length-wise fold of the fabric, about 3 inches of space down from the top-this will be flipped over for the waist band. Pin the existing skirt in place, all the way through. Now what’s needed is to cut along the side seam of the existing skirt, about 2” from it, all the way down. (Cutting right next to it will make the skirt too tight; the 2” are needed for seam allowance.) If you want it to be the same length as the existing skirt, cut across to the fold, about 2” away from the existing skirt hem as well. Last, cut open the top fold of the material to free the front and back.

Next, laying the “right”, or darker sides together, pin the 2 side seams 1 ½” inches or so from the edge, all the way down. Turn right side out and try on to see if it needs to be tighter or looser and thus re-pinned again, evenly for both seams. If it’s OK, turn inside out again, sew with a machine, and remove pins. Then, spread the seams open so the material edges lay flat against the skirt; a water spritzer and hand smoothing should suffice to keep them flat for the next step. Fold down 2” from the top around the skirt and pin for the waistband casing, keeping the seams open. Do the same for the hem. Sew the hem about ¾” from the edge and the waist about 2” from the edge, leaving an opening above each of the side seams. (This is where you’ll get the waistband elastic in.) Finally, push in a strip of elastic that’s at least 6 inches longer than your waist is around, and continue pushing (scrunching material with both hands to move it along) until it’s totally through and you can knot it. (Don’t knot it too much or it will be too hard to adjust if need be.) Pull the waistband from both sides so that the elastic gets distributed evenly around the waist, and you’re done.

This skirt should obviously be worn with an over blouse to hide the waistband; if you like to wear skirts lower on the hips, use more elastic than your waist measurement would ordinarily demand. Also, it will be easier to handle the elastic if you use tweezers to help pull it once it gets within 4 inches or so of each of the openings above the side seams.

It’s not haute couture, but for a young girl or whimsical wearing, this works just fine. Good luck!